Don't make me frog it. You won't like me when I frog it.

Mr BAM’s Big Grey Jumper

I finished Mr BAM’s Big Grey Jumper a whole week ago, and even the photos were done and ready to post! So just insert the usual excuses about life getting in the way of blogging here, and we’ll move swiftly on. Aside from my Inner Gollum‘s dark mutterings regarding the quality of the seams. I’m actually very proud of it! And more importantly, my husband loves it.

Want to see?

Mr BAM doesn’t enjoy having his photo taken, but he still agreed to pose in his new jumper on a damp Monday morning in my mum’s back garden (well, as you can see, it’s more of a yard really!) I would have been really stuck trying to photograph the jumper without him modelling it as the 1×1 rib section at the top makes it look an odd shape without a body inside to fill it out!

Mr BAM actually went with me to a local yarn shop to pick the yarn (!), and although I gave him a choice of aran weight or chunky, to my relief he pounced on the Stylecraft Life Chunky in Dapple Grey straight away! I adore my husband, I really do, but the thought of knitting him a jumper in DK yarn was enough to make me break out in a cold sweat, so the thicker the yarn the better. I almost couldn’t believe it when he chose a chunky yarn that could be machine washed (it’s 75% acrylic and 25% wool), so I won’t even have to worry about hand washing it.

I did steer him towards a choice between a couple of patterns, but he was unlikely to look through all of the ones in the shop anyway. He settled on a pattern intended for the yarn he’d chosen (Stylecraft pattern 8696) which I could see was simple enough to knit up quickly, but not so plain as to bore me senseless whilst knitting it. Actually it was simple enough that I even managed to work out how to knit it one size bigger than the largest size, which was a bit of a gamble on my part as I have little to no experience in customising patterns! It was important to Mr BAM that the jumper wasn’t too tight or clingy, so adding some extra stitches to the front and back made sense, and as the jumper was supposed to have quite a wide neck it all stayed pretty much in proportion anyway.

I hadn’t knitted an adult size jumper in over ten years, and the last time I tried to knit something like this for someone else was when I struggled on and off for about five years with a cardigan for my dad before I ultimately gave up and handed it over to my younger sister to finish (which she did sickeningly quickly!)

I ordered the yarn for the Big Grey Jumper at the start of January, giving myself to Mr BAM’s birthday at the end of March to finish it, so completing it in seven weeks, well before my deadline, feels like a real achievement! Even more so when you take into consideration all the other things I’ve been working on this year!

I’m not really one to believe in the Sweater Curse, but I think after being married to Mr BAM for over five years I don’t have much to worry about. He may or may not get much use out of the jumper, but I loved knitting it for him, and he’s super cuddly when he does wear it!

With a bit of luck I might even finish the socks I’m knitting him in time for his birthday too…

14 thoughts on “Mr BAM’s Big Grey Jumper”

The sweater looks fantastic!! And, Mr. BAM did a great job modeling it for pics. (My hubby is a somewhat reluctant model… but my youngest daughter is always up for the task!)

I took my hubby to the yarn store before and let him pick out his own sweater materials and pattern, too. It’s about the only sweater he actually wears that I’ve made for him. That must be the key to producing husband-wearable sweaters- letting them design their own garment. And, I believe the wedding ring must be the cure for the curse! 🙂

It looks amazing Tajana! I love the two contrasting stitch patterns and the flecks in the yarn are lovely against the grey. He looks very happy with it and well done on getting him to model for you – it wouldn’t look the same laid flat:)